ideas

I wrote about a grassroots model for improving the city a couple weeks ago. ABQ Sprout works like this: People pay for a dinner of local food prepared by a volunteer local chef. At the dinner, presenters pitch their plan for boosting Burque. Diners vote on their favorite. The cash attendees paid for their chow becomes an instant micro grant for the winner.

Because of the inaugural dinner’s success, three groups were chosen instead of one:

• During the dinner, people make pitches on how to make Albuquerque a better place.

• The diners vote, and the money they paid to attend the event becomes an instant micro-grant for the winner.

In Albuquerque it’s called ABQ Sprout, though it’s based on a model that goes by various names in other cities. The first-ever dinner is Saturday, Jan. 28, at the South Valley Multipurpose Center (2008 Larrazolo SW). Admission is $15 to $30 on a sliding scale.